Burning Shadows
Hey, I'm Swiftfire of FireClan, the Clan of the Burning Forest. Don't worry, it's a metaphor for our Clan so no worries. Wait here on this patch of braken while I go and tell the Clan leader, Ravenstar, you're here. *A few minutes pass* Ah, Ravenstar gave me permission to tell my bloody history to give you an idea how lucky you are, compared to me. My story begins some time ago, when I was a kit. Then I was known as Flashkit and I was proudly living in RiverClan as the only son of the Clan deputy, Birchclaw, since my brother, Rockkit died two days after being born. Rockkit died horribly because he didn't come out of my mother right and as a result, had bad problems. He died with blood pouring out of him, and nothing our medicine cat, Feathersong, did, help him get better. After that horrible death, I began to feel that StarClan was punishing someone in the Clan for something that shouldn't have happened, something that was never meant to happen. That realization came to me in a dream from StarClan, as a warning, but I realized it could have gone both ways. The dream started normally enough. I was running around with Cedarkit when the StarClan cat appeared. I was alone in an unfamiliar part of the camp and my mother’s dead sister (Fernleaf) came to me. By the way, my mother’s name is Emberpool. Fernleaf told me to beware the shadow that looms over the moon, but stand tall near the sandy eye. It sounded eerily like a prophecy but I didn’t take notice. A few moons passed with nothing out of the ordinary, until that fateful day when I became an apprentice. My sisters, Moonpaw and Cedarpaw, were waiting with their mentors, Hawkblaze (Moonpaw's mentor) and Swallowstorm (Cedarpaw's mentor) for me to become an apprentice and RiverClan's leader in those days, Dovestar, was on her last life. Dovestar named me an apprentice and gave me to Jaydawn, a senior warrior that I had respected when I was a `kit. As soon as I was given to Jaydawn, WindClan attacked with the intention of getting their vengeance from stolen prey that we didn’t steal. In the midst of the chaos, Dovestar was killed. My Clan was devastated, WindClan’s dirty work finished, and my father prepared to go to the Moonstone to get his nine lives and his leader name. I was proud of my father but troubled by the harsh death that WindClan dealt to my Clan. A half-season passed after that horrible battle, and I was an excellent apprentice, the fastest of my Clan. I was faster than the ThunderClan warrior, Rabbitfoot, who told me that being fast was a gift from StarClan and I should use it for the good of my Clan. I stuck by what she told me, even though I was a rival Clan apprentice, and would meet her in battle. Finally, the moon came where I became a warrior, and the whole Clan was talking about it. I had fought well in a recent rogue attack, even using a special move that was taught to me by my father which happened to be a ThunderClan move. It was the play dead and slash attack that the legendary leader, Firestar had used to win many of his battles as a warrior, and Birchstar was pleased and decided to give me my warrior name. Birchstar bunched up his legs and jumped up the Tallstone, and prepared to call the Clan together and give me my warrior name. My sisters, who were also amazing in the battle, were also due to get their warrior names. Cedarpaw became Cedarcloud and Moonpaw became Moonshade. Birchstar turned to me and looked down at me from the Tallstone, said the ceremonial words, and named me Flashheart, for my determination and loyalty to RiverClan. Just after i was given my warrior name, I looked over to Moonshade and was about to say, "We made it! We're now true RiverClan warriors!" and instead saw a shadowy cat licking her ear fur and twined its tail around her. I strained to hear the dark whisper from the shadow's parted lips and heard, “That cat is the one with your rightful destiny. You must kill him to gain what you want, but it will be difficult. We will meet again in dreams.” The words terrified me and I realized my older sister was not who she appeared to be, not the cat I grew up with. I was heartbroken, and vowed from now on to always keep an eye on Moonshade and her mysterious shadow cat, even if it would kill me. Category:Fanfiction